CANAN Statement Regarding The $50,000 Donation To Terror Victims In Nigeria Through CAN & Adjoining Issues

We have read several media reports raising questions regarding the contribution of $50,000 donated by us, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN to victims of Boko Haram violence in Nigeria through CAN. There have also been a number of media inquiries both here in the US and from Nigeria on the matter.

CANAN therefore states as follows:1. We certainly contributed the said sum to the victims and entrusted the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN with the distribution of the funds to the victims. There was no better means to distribute the money to the victims since CANAN is based in the US.2. We delivered the money to CAN in a couple of batches between late 2013 and early 2014.3. From time to time, the Secretary-General of CAN, Revd. Dr. Musa Asake, (with whom our National Secretariat coordinated, himself a US trained PhD holder from the prestigious Dallas Theological Seminary, here in the US), gave us reports of how the money is being distributed to the victims.4. So far, for instance, no less than 1000 victims- widows and their children in Borno State alone received N10,000 each- per widow-from the donation according to detailed reports we got from CAN.

CANANUSA.org---Boston-Sunday 22, 2015-The 16th chapter of the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN has been launched in Boston at a well attended event presided over by the President of the association, Dr. James Fadel.

Hosted by the Cornerstone Worship Center, and Pastor Samuel Sorinmade, in Melrose in the Greater Boston area, Nigerian American Christians came together to respond to the vision of CANAN, which has now been enunciated and shared in the US from coast to coast.

Nigerian Christians came to the inauguration from various denominations including the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Christ Apostolic Church, Christ Ambassadors Ministries, Christian Assembly, Adonai Bible Center, Pentecostal Tabernacle, among others.

France to press for U.N. support for Africa force to fight Boko Haram

NIAMEY (Reuters) - France will support a bid by the African Union to win the backing of the U.N. Security Council for its five-nation force fighting Islamist militant group Boko Haram, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday.

Fabius spoke on a tour of Chad, Cameroon and Niger, countries that have launched operations against the militants who have killed thousands in a six-year war for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram releases 158 hostages in Nigeria

The Boko Haram Islamist terrorist group has released 158 women and children abducted from a village in northeastern Nigeria’s Yobe state, an official said on Friday.

Ahmed Goniri, the state commissioner for justice and chairman of the State Committee on Rehabilitation of Victims of Insurgency, said the victims were released by the Islamist sect members after three weeks of captivity.

The official told reporters that the women and children from Katarko village in Yobe have been reunited with their families in Damaturu, the state capital, according to Xinhua news agency.

Military Kills 300 Terrorists, Liberates 11 Communities

IN a major boost in the war against terror, the military in a well-coordinated attack from the air has recaptured 11 communities from terrorists in the Northeast. Two soldiers died, while more than 300 Boko Haram fighters were killed in the last two days, according to information from Defence Headquarters.

Meanwhile, the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau has threatened that the group would disrupt the March 28 presidential election. Shekau stated this on Tuesday in a new video purportedly released by the group.

African Giant Nigeria Relies on Poorer Chad to Fight Boko Haram

(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria, with Africa’s biggest economy, is relying on poorer neighbor Chad to spearhead the battle against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram so it can hold delayed presidential elections next month.

Five Reasons Nigeria’s Poll Delay Is Fishy

There was a whiff of something rotten in my kitchen on Saturday – and it wasn’t the cooking. No, it was emanating from the press conference I was watching live on my smartphone, in which Nigeria’s national electoral commissioner announced that polling, scheduled for February 14, was to be postponed by another six weeks.

So now, tens of millions of Nigerian voters will have to wait until March 28 to choose between an increasingly embattled incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan (Peoples Democratic Party) and his challenger Muhammadu Buhari (opposition All Progressives Congress). Governorship races (including my friend and former CGD visiting fellow Nuhu Ribadu running as the PDP candidate in Adamawa State) must now wait until April 11.

Karen Attiah in the Washington Post also noticed the smell. The official reason for the postponement is that the military needs six weeks to launch a new offensive against Boko Haram and cannot guarantee election safety at the same time. This is potentially plausible. But here are five reasons why I’m sceptical.

Update on Our Call for International Force to Fight Boko Haram

Cananusa.org…. February 10, 2015, NY-----Exactly one month ago, CANAN issued a global public cry on the need for the international community to invoke its Responsibility to protect doctrine regarding the fate of the people of Northeastern Nigeria who are being decimated by Boko Haram.

When we made the call we made it very clear the Baga incident of last month was more than a turning point for the international community to act.

CANAN had said:

“We have witnessed this week once again a most despicable massacre by Boko Haram in the northeastern town of Baga, in Nigeria, considered the second largest town in Borno State. So far this is the worst massacre in the history of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria.

Media reports quoting local vigilante groups and Amnesty International are claiming that about 2000 innocent people were killed in the latest attack of the terrorist on Baga this week.”

As Nigeria delays election due to security, 6 facts about public opinion

Security concerns relating to the continued fight against the Boko Haram terrorist grouphave led to a delayin Nigeria’s upcoming election, which is now set for March 28. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress opposition party, whobriefly ruled the countryin the 1980s after a military coup, has urged calm to his followers in his quest to defeat incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, of the People’s Democratic Party.

In recent months, Boko Haram hasstepped up its campaignin Nigeria’s northeast, and violence has spread to neighboring countries. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa and is a major oil producer, so in its most important election since democratic rule was restored in 1999, there are concerns that the delaycould lead to more internal strife.